Warriors hold down shooters, hold off Rockets in Houston

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Houston Rockets' Taj Gordon (10) gets a loose ball against Golden State Warriors' David West (3) and Klay Thompson (11) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Rockets' Clint Capela (15) puts up a shot past Golden State Warriors' David West (3) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

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Houston Rockets' Clint Capela (15) goes for a rebound against Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green (23) and Lou Williams (12) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Rockets' Patrick Beverley (2) forces a loose ball out of Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Rockets' James Harden (13) drives around Golden State Warriors' Klay Thomspon (11) in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Rockets' Trevor Ariza (1) and Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green (23) battle for a rebound in the second half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant celebrate on the bench after a score in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Golden State Warriors' James Michael McAdoo (20) knocks away the shot attempt by Houston Rockets' James Harden (13) in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Golden State Warriors' Stephen Curry (30) dishes the ball between Houston Rockets' Clint Capela, Trevor Ariza (1) and James Harden (13) in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

AP Photo/Michael Wyke

As Golden State Warriors' James Michael McAdoo lies on the court, Houston Rockets' Trevor Ariza tries to get the officials attention to stop play in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. Ariza landed on McAdoo's head as they both fell chasing a loose ball. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Houston Rockets' James Harden (13) watches as Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson (11) puts up a shot in the first half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, March 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

HOUSTON — To many, the Rockets are a threat to the Warriors in the playoffs for a simple reason: They take and make a historic amount of 3s. But against Golden State this season, they’ve taken a ton, but made very few.

On Tuesday night in Houston — in a physical foul-fest where the Rockets did plenty else right, continually baiting the Warriors into fouls — their 3-point inaccuracy was the separator in an important Warriors win, 113-106, sending Golden State into San Antonio on Wednesday night with a 2.5-game cushion on the Spurs.

The Warriors bolted out to a 22-point lead in the first 15 minutes. Klay Thompson was ultra-hot (20 points in his first 11 minutes) and Golden State’s defense swarmed the perimeter with a physical, mostly hands-off approach. The Rockets went 2-of-13 from three in the first quarter, while the Warriors only fouled four times, leading to only two Houston free throws and a 37-20 Golden State lead.

“Attention to detail,” Steph Curry said. “Knowing where their shooters are in transition. We do a great job of just staying on a string, so if two guys commit to the ball and there is a pass to the wing, the next guy rotates. A chain reaction.”

But the Warriors got sloppy on offense and “handsy” on defense in the second quarter, flipping the game. Golden State turned the ball over 17 times, leading to 20 Rockets points, and they fouled Houston 29 times, leading to 39 free throws. They made 35 of those attempts, outscoring the Warriors by 23 at the line.

“Numerous silly fouls that really hurt us and kept them in the game,” Kerr said.

There was a huge swing play at the end of the first half. Steph Curry seemed to have a clean steal and breakaway to put the Warriors up 12. But as he scrambled to scoop up the loose ball, he lightly shoved Patrick Beverley, who sold the call and got the whistle. It gave Houston two free throws to cut the lead to eight at halftime (60-52) and was Curry’s third foul, leading to second-half foul trouble that ping-ponged him in and out of the game.

Curry finished the night with five fouls, needing to sub out at important times, while Matt Barnes and Shaun Livingston combined for 10 fouls in 33 minutes. Nine of the Rockets 39 free throws came on simple reach-in fouls on the perimeter, handing James Harden and Lou Williams nine easy points.

“Some of (the fouls), on a drive to the rim, sure,” Kerr said. “But we should not foul a single 3-point shooter. All three of them were reaches on James Harden and Lou Williams, who are the two leading foul-drawers on 3-point shots in the NBA. We know that. Everybody knows that. If you just stick your arm in there, they’re going to grab your off-arm with their off-arm and it’s going to be a foul. They’ve been doing it all year. So you just can’t stick your arm in there. We did it three times, which kept the game close.”

Things got dicey in the third quarter. As the Rockets crawled back into the game, even without their 3-point weapon, the Warriors were delivered an injury scare. Draymond Green had his ankle rolled up on by Clint Capela as he was trying to close out. He tumbled to the ground, writhed in pain, stayed down for a minute and limped to the locker room.

But Green eventually returned (and says he’s expecting to play against the Spurs on Wednesday), leading a sturdy fourth-quarter defensive effort. Despite the balky ankle, Green impressively zipped between Trevor Ariza and Williams on a key fourth-quarter play, preventing three potential open 3s.

In all, the Rockets made only five of their 31 3s. In their first two matchups with the Warriors this season, they went 14-of-44 from 3 and 7-of-35. In total, that’s 26-of-110 in three games, a brutal 23.6 percent. James Harden has been the most inaccurate. He was 1-of-9 from deep on Tuesday and is now 3-of-25 from 3 against the Warriors this season.

During this 8-game win streak, the Warriors have an incredible 94.9 defensive rating (points per 100 possessions). On Tuesday, despite the fouls, they had a solid 99.8 rating against Houston’s explosive offense.

Then, in the closing minutes, Curry put it away, nailing a straightaway 3 and smooth fadeaway to cap a 32-point night and deliver Steve Kerr his 200th coaching win, done quicker than any coach in the history of the four major sports.

“I was really impressed with our guys’ guts when things went south,” Kerr said. “Draymond gets hurt, we had to change our rotation up and they had all the momentum. Our guys stepped it up and that’s a hell of a win for us.”

-After initially signaling that Kevin Durant would get his official re-evaluation on Thursday, after returning to the Bay Area, the Warriors now expect to give an official re-evaluation and update on Kevin Durant’s left knee Wednesday in San Antonio. He continues to increase the intensity of his workouts.